2 They set out fromRephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped beforethe mountain,3 whileMoses went up to God.TheLordcalled to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and howI bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall bemy treasured possession among all peoples, forall the earth is mine;6 and you shall be to me akingdom of priests anda holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that theLordhad commanded him.8 All the people answered together and said, "All that theLordhas spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to theLord.

What a wonderful scene this is, isn't it? God and the people are making their covenant with each other. God says, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples…." The people respond, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Sounds great, right?

It sounds great, but the only problem is the people lied. There was no way they were going to keep the covenant. First of all, they didn't know what the word "all" meant. Secondly, they weren't capable of it, because they were sinful human beings.

We should've learned the lesson by now, but we haven't. We still hear the law and say, "All that the Lord has commanded I will do." We think we have it all together enough to get the job done and keep the old covenant. We aren't and we can't.

That's why God made a new covenant with us, one that we couldn't break, because it all depends on him. It's his promise to us. All we do is receive the blessings of that promise. The promise off the Messiah, along with all of God's other promises, have been kept! God loved us so much that he didn't let us flounder under the old covenant. Instead, when the Israelites broke that promise, they were taken into captivity, but God didn't leave them there alone. He went with them, and he eventually brought them out of it.

He does the same for you. When you break God's law, you must suffer the earthly consequences, but God goes with you even in your tough circumstances, and he gets you out and brings you back into a right relationship with him. Rejoice in that today! Rejoice in God's kept promises to you!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for keeping your promises even when I don't, especially your promise to save me and give me eternal life. Amen.

What did Jehu do to Baal worship in Israel? (There are three people who answered this question. One all the way from the Czech Republic!)

Not unlike other such dishonest politicians he lied. He told the Baal worshippers that he was going to have a big celebration honoring Baal. But when he had them all together he ordered them killed by the gaurds and officers. He made sure it was only prophets of Baal inside. In this way he destroyed Baal worship in Israel. God was pleased with this and promised his line would continue for four generations. However, Jehu didn't follow God.

Denise Schlesselmann

He had the Baal worshipers to gather in their temple and had them all killed and their temple destroyed. Don Nolte

The worshipping of Baal was brought to Israel by Kibbles and Bits – aka: Jezebel and Ahab the Arab. After Jehu was anointed king, he had all of the people who worshiped Baal put to death (2 Kings 10:18–26). After that, at Jehu's command, "they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel" (verses 27–28). God's goal of ridding the land of Baal worship had been accomplished.

Even so, he ignored the fact that people were still bowing down to golden calves. So, he was not a good guy.

Please RSVP especially if you haven't been there in a while or never been. We'd love to have all y'all!

____________________________________________________________

STEPHEN MINISTRY: Throughout the month of June we will be highlighting our Stephen Ministry program.

Stephen Ministry is a caring ministry that is carried out by lay people. It has been a part of St. John's in various forms and levels since 2003. Many people have gone through the training and cared for others with their training. These people are called "care givers". Many more have benefitted from the help these people have provided. These people are called "care receivers". This is a tremendously beneficial ministry to both care giver and care receivers as both grow in faith and as many of them become friends if they weren't already.

It is also a great benefit to our congregation for many different reasons! Care givers learn how to be better Christian moms, dads, husbands, wives, friends, and church members. The congregation grows as our community finds out how caring and loving we are as a congregation through this ministry. It is a wonderful thing!

We are in need of some new Stephen ministers. It is a commitment, but the commitment is definitely worth it! You will be blessed beyond measure if you go through the training and become a Stephen Minister. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE NEED MEN TO BE STEPEHEN MINISTERS JUST AS MUCH AS WOMEN!!

Last Sunday at our 8:30 worship, Chrissy Groeber and Marcia Sevier were installed as our new Stephen Leaders!! They will be starting a new Stephen Ministry training as soon as everyone who is interested signs up and a start date and time can be established.

Please prayerfully consider this and then come to church this coming weekend and sign up or reply to this email and I will sign you up!

DEVOTION: Exodus 19:2-8 English Standard Version (ESV)

2 They set out fromRephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped beforethe mountain,3 whileMoses went up to God.TheLordcalled to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and howI bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall bemy treasured possession among all peoples, forall the earth is mine;6 and you shall be to me akingdom of priests anda holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that theLordhad commanded him.8 All the people answered together and said, "All that theLordhas spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to theLord.

What a wonderful scene this is, isn't it? God and the people are making their covenant with each other. God says, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples…." The people respond, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Sounds great, right?

It sounds great, but the only problem is the people lied. There was no way they were going to keep the covenant. First of all, they didn't know what the word "all" meant. Secondly, they weren't capable of it, because they were sinful human beings.

We should've learned the lesson by now, but we haven't. We still hear the law and say, "All that the Lord has commanded I will do." We think we have it all together enough to get the job done and keep the old covenant. We aren't and we can't.

That's why God made a new covenant with us, one that we couldn't break, because it all depends on him. It's his promise to us. All we do is receive the blessings of that promise. The promise off the Messiah, along with all of God's other promises, have been kept! God loved us so much that he didn't let us flounder under the old covenant. Instead, when the Israelites broke that promise, they were taken into captivity, but God didn't leave them there alone. He went with them, and he eventually brought them out of it.

He does the same for you. When you break God's law, you must suffer the earthly consequences, but God goes with you even in your tough circumstances, and he gets you out and brings you back into a right relationship with him. Rejoice in that today! Rejoice in God's kept promises to you!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for keeping your promises even when I don't, especially your promise to save me and give me eternal life. Amen.

What did Jehu do to Baal worship in Israel? (There are three people who answered this question. One all the way from the Czech Republic!)

Not unlike other such dishonest politicians he lied. He told the Baal worshippers that he was going to have a big celebration honoring Baal. But when he had them all together he ordered them killed by the gaurds and officers. He made sure it was only prophets of Baal inside. In this way he destroyed Baal worship in Israel. God was pleased with this and promised his line would continue for four generations. However, Jehu didn't follow God.

Denise Schlesselmann

He had the Baal worshipers to gather in their temple and had them all killed and their temple destroyed. Don Nolte

The worshipping of Baal was brought to Israel by Kibbles and Bits – aka: Jezebel and Ahab the Arab. After Jehu was anointed king, he had all of the people who worshiped Baal put to death (2 Kings 10:18–26). After that, at Jehu's command, "they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel" (verses 27–28). God's goal of ridding the land of Baal worship had been accomplished.

Even so, he ignored the fact that people were still bowing down to golden calves. So, he was not a good guy.

Please RSVP especially if you haven't been there in a while or never been. We'd love to have all y'all!

____________________________________________________________

STEPHEN MINISTRY: Throughout the month of June we will be highlighting our Stephen Ministry program.

Stephen Ministry is a caring ministry that is carried out by lay people. It has been a part of St. John's in various forms and levels since 2003. Many people have gone through the training and cared for others with their training. These people are called "care givers". Many more have benefitted from the help these people have provided. These people are called "care receivers". This is a tremendously beneficial ministry to both care giver and care receivers as both grow in faith and as many of them become friends if they weren't already.

It is also a great benefit to our congregation for many different reasons! Care givers learn how to be better Christian moms, dads, husbands, wives, friends, and church members. The congregation grows as our community finds out how caring and loving we are as a congregation through this ministry. It is a wonderful thing!

We are in need of some new Stephen ministers. It is a commitment, but the commitment is definitely worth it! You will be blessed beyond measure if you go through the training and become a Stephen Minister. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE NEED MEN TO BE STEPEHEN MINISTERS JUST AS MUCH AS WOMEN!!

Last Sunday at our 8:30 worship, Chrissy Groeber and Marcia Sevier were installed as our new Stephen Leaders!! They will be starting a new Stephen Ministry training as soon as everyone who is interested signs up and a start date and time can be established.

Please prayerfully consider this and then come to church this coming weekend and sign up or reply to this email and I will sign you up!

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Mission Statement

The mission of St. John's Lutheran Church is to preach the Word of God in its purity and to teach this Word to all people. We do so through the means God has given us, the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

What We Believe

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod accepts the Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and subscribes unconditionally to all the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God.

We accept the Confessions because they are drawn from the Word of God and on that account regard their doctrinal content as a true and binding exposition of Holy Scripture and as authoritative for all pastors, congregations and other rostered church workers of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.